The present invention to radio frequency and power supply distribution systems for operating a plurality of high frequency receivers such as television and radio receivers and more specifically to a signal and power distribution duct system particularly useful for supplying signals and power to a plurality of receivers for display in retail establishments.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,435, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, I disclose a power and signal duct wherein one or more channels, each having longitudinal compartments containing power receptacles isolated from signal receptacles. This patent also discloses techniques for connecting identical units end to end to create a duct of any length desired.
The duct of my prior patent is hard wired. In particular, the power connections thereto are individually connected thereto using conventional wiring techniques. When it is desired to connect two ducts end to end, the abutting ends of the two ducts are removed and a connecting plate is connected to splice the joint. Then, electrical interconnection must be made by connecting wires between the two sections. The signal connections are made with a length of coaxial cable between the two sections. Adjacent sections are further held together using a cover plate bridging adjacent ducts. This requires shorter sections of cover plate to fill in the portions not covered by the normal cover plate.
As will be evident to one skilled in the art, the necessity for modifying the ends of the duct sections, hard wiring multiple sections of duct, and installing cover plates by hand makes the system of my prior patent relatively inflexible in a retail setting characterized by frequent change of product and display location.